A Tiny Bubble of Laughter I....

"A tiny bubble of Laughter I, have become the sea of mirth itself!" Is what Guruji says in his poem "Song of Samadhi".
The other day, while wanting to launch into meditation with an inspiring thought, these lines occurred to me...and I dwelt on them... Then, as the spirit of the words sank in, I began to laugh...laugh... laugh. Laughter was coming from the very depths of my being. For no reason at all. And I imagined myself as a "bubble" of laughter...and then I merged into the sea of laughter... I saw a whole sea of faces laughing, the birds and animals laughing and my laughter mingled with theirs... and I saw myself as the sea of mirth!!
That whole day, my spirit was high and the words "A tiny bubble of laughter I, have become the sea of mirth itself!" kept coming to me...
"Laughter, the best medicine" says the Reader's Digest heading. Humour columns make you laugh, forget your woes and transport you to a dimension of light and purity. All modern Gurus encourage laughter as part of the purification or catharsis (Osho stands out among them)... Laughter takes you from your common dimension of reason and logic to a sudden unexpected illogic dimension...and even the illogic makes some funny sense! then you laugh...
But do we laugh for no reason at all? Like a madman and for no apparent reason at all, coming out suddenly from nowhere, do we laugh that way? No wonder we will be called mad. We all laugh only for a reason...at others or at ourselves...when somebody does a verbal slip up, or physically slips down on a banana peal...we all laugh for a reason. But a laugh without reason (like they do in laughter clubs) is not a socially accepted style... you will have to belong to a mad society to laugh for no reason.
But when Guruji says "A tiny bubble of laughter I...." he means this reasonless, "mad" laughter. And believe me, it was purifying, it was a catharsis... made me feel empty, light and ....sacred, if you will... I got a glimpse of the dimension where such beings dwell...the realm of eternal laughter... pure... and this is a dimension to which each one of us has access...if only we permit ourselves laughter... even if it is only laughing for a joke, let's begin to laugh... of course not laughing "at somebody" ...may be one day we will reach the realm where the no-reason laughter will dawn upon us, and then our laughter becomes the laughter of all hearts. Believe me, it is indeed transforming!!
Love Shanky

Ranchi - why is it special to me?

Ranchi - there is magic in that name. Why? It's because there is a beautiful heavenly place called Yogoda Satsanga Society of India - an ashram established and nurtured by our Guru Sri Paramahansa Yogananda in 1917.
"I have sprinkled this place with the nectar of my soul realizations!" says Guru maharaj. And indeed so.. In the bustling town of Ranchi, one would indeed be surprised to know that a sylvan retreat exists ensconced near Hazaribagh road...very close to Ranchi station, about 5 minutes by walk. The road is named Paramahansa Yogananda Path... To the cycle rickshawman you have to say "Jogda"...and he takes you right inside the compound!
If you have informed the swamis in advance of your arrival by train...you will be pleasantly surprised to see a swamiji waiting for you and help you find your room/dormitory. Otherwise, Shri Chandrashekhar Panda, the Bangali Babu from Dilli is always ready to help you. He will provide you with the required number of mattresses, bedsheets, pillows etc... A soft-spoken and firm man, always ready to help, he will tell you straight without mincing words "Sir, please don't move around in your shorts...these are not allowed here!" So, it shud either be a dhoti or pyjama or a big towel around your waist, but mind you "no short pants". Such are the rules. "You better get ready for energization exercises and morning meditation at 7 a.m.!" Either there will be a swamiji or a brahmachari who will be conducting the morning and evening meditations. But energization exercises will precede the meditation. "Double breathing with tension....!!" and so it goes....It will be 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. in the morning and 5.30 to 7 p.m. in the evenings. You can soak in the sublime sound of OOOooom, OOOooom, OOOooom!!! and then "Brahmaanandam, Paramasukhadam Kevalam jnaanamurthim..." A couple of bhajans and then 30 mins of meditation. Meditation over, you tread serenely, in sublime mood, about a furlong or so to the dining hall catching a glimpse of the Shiva mandir, the Samarpan hall, the Smriti mandir of Guruji... well, here an ambrosial treat awaits you...tasty, sattvic food served with Love and eaten in gratitude and silence!!